FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a joint news conference of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Russia February 18, 2022. Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Friday that the war in Ukraine was an existential question for Russia, after U.S. President Donald Trump likened it to a playground fight.

"Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy, they hate each other and they're fighting in a park," Trump said on Thursday. "Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart," he added.

Asked about the comment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Here, of course, the U.S. president may have his own point of view on what is happening, but for us this is an existential question - this is a question of our national interests, this is a question of our security and the future of ourselves and our children, the future of our country."

Peskov said Moscow was grateful to the U.S. for its mediation efforts, and it was important that contacts with Washington should continue.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Mark Trevelyan and Alex Richardson)